National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists on Tuesday confirmed that coral bleaching in the Caribbean basin last summer was the most extensive and severe they have seen since they began collecting satellite data more than 20 years ago. Discussing the bleaching on the second day of a coral monitoring workshop at the Nature Conservancy in Estate Little Princess, Mark Eakin, coordinator of NOAA's Coral Reef Watch program, said his organization was in the process of collecting data from more than 70 researchers measuring 1,000 sites throughout the Caribbean. The early returns are grim "This was an extremely severe event," Eakin said. "It was unlike anything we've ever seen."